Cebu City cops back to original deployment to address criminalities

Cebu City policemen | Photo courtesy of CCPO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City policemen are now back in their original places of deployment against criminality following their duties in the recent elections.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Wilbert Parilla, deputy director for administration of the Cebu City Police Office, said the return of the city’s policemen is a welcome development after they received several reports of alleged, pickpocketing, snatching and theft incidents in the city, especially in IT Park area in Barangay Apas.

Parilla said that even before the pandemic, they already received reports of snatching and victimizing those who were working at night.

However, with the recent elections, some personnel assigned there were temporarily pulled out to help secure the polls. 

Parilla said they have directed the chiefs of police in all 11 police stations in the city to assign their respective personnel back to their usual deployment and areas of jurisdiction.

This, he said, is one of their ways to counter or prevent criminals from realizing their bad intentions.

For the last week, Parilla said they only recorded 13 crime incidents in the city. Of the 13 incidents, 12 were already solved while one was already cleared.

Before the election, Parilla said they recorded an increase from 14 to 20 incidents. After the election, they logged 13 incidents which he considers as minimal.

Parilla hopes to maintain the decreasing number of crime incidents here.

For her part, Police Lieutenant Colonel Maria Theresa Macatangay, information officer of CCPO, said everyone must be observant and vigilant at all times to avoid being victimized by unlawful elements.  

“Kana nga mga krimen, naghuwat rana sila og oppurtunidad to strike. So what I suggest is dili nato sila hatagan ana nga opportunidad nga maka commit ana nga crime. Let us be very wary of our own personal belongings, be vigilant with our surroundings,”  Macatangay said.

Apart from that, Macatangay also stressed that it is better if there are security cameras in all establishments and in their immediate premises as police would not know about the problem if it is not recorded.

This is crucial for the police to create a better security deployment and protocol in certain areas, she added.   /rcg

READ: Cebu City cops ready to secure local campaign for 2022 polls